The Romanian parliamentary elite from Banat on the eve of the First World War

The Romanian parliamentary elite from Banat on the eve of the First World War

 

Autor: Ovidiu-Emil IUDEAN
Cuvinte-cheie: Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Banat region, parliamentary elite, electoral phenomena, national minorities, political orientations.

Central and East-European historiography has intensely focused on the political life of the nationalities in the Dual Monarchy. This paper aims to complement this field of research, by presenting and analysing a regional elite segment, namely that of the Romanian parliamentary representatives from Banat on the eve of the First World War. The selection of this elite segment was motivated by the various transformations which occurred in the province of Banat following the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. These changes were visible both at a macro, political-administrative, economic and social level, and at the level of the composition of the parliamentary elite in this region. The parliamentary elite from Banat – which would change almost completely during the interwar period due to the emergence of a new generation of political figures – included, during the period in question, some of the last representatives of the activist-governmental political orientation, a direction of great significance for the Romanians in Hungary.